Ellsbury Gone, But Not Forgotten By Red Sox Fans

NEW YORK — Jacoby Ellsbury will get his ring Friday. The ringing in his ears will have to wait until April 22.

Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington and manager John Farrell will present Ellsbury with his 2013 World Series bling — all 14-karat white gold, 126 diamonds, 16 custom-cut sapphires and nine custom-cut rubies of it — before the second game of the first Red Sox-Yankees series of 2014.

The big question now is what will Red Sox fans give Ellsbury when the teams meet in a week and a half at Fenway Park? Will it be 14-karat heartfelt thanks for two world championships? Or a Johnny Damon traitor's worth of boos?

"That's the reason I love this rivalry, the passion the fans have," Ellsbury said Thursday before sticky-handed Michael Pineda stifled the Red Sox 4-1 in Ellsbury's first game against his former teammates. "Whatever reception I receive there will be out of my hands.

"I gave that organization everything I had. I know the time I was there the fans respected that … We'll see what happens."

The mind tells you Ellsbury played vital roles in the 2007 and 2013 championships. The mind tells you that when fans weren't arguing whether he was too slow to return from injury they embraced him as a highly productive weapon. The mind tells you the Yankees blew the Red Sox five-year, $100 million offer so badly out of the water with a seven-year, $153 million free-agent deal that nobody could begrudge Ellsbury.

The mind also doesn't govern the emotions of Red Sox fans. The guy did jump to the damn Yankees.

"I got a few messages from the guys, congratulating me on the ring," Ellsbury said. "They said it was 'awesome,' exact words. They left a message when they went to the White House, just to let me know, 'you were part of it.' "

Ellsbury didn't see the emotional ring ceremony before the Red Sox home opener. He did see David Ortiz take the selfie heard round the world with President Barack Obama.

"I think everybody saw that," Ellsbury said. "Pretty funny."

The White House, duped by Samsung, isn't laughing.

Hitting .351 with a .400 OBP, Ellsbury is off to a strong start with the Yankees. Look, Ellsbury's WAR (wins above replacement) always has been strong. Nobody's disputing his ability to disrupt the opposition. But that $153 million deal for an injury-rattled center fielder in his 30s who depends so much on his legs is nuts. You may argue otherwise today, but not in five years.

Long term is long term, of course, and immediate is immediate. You don't need two guesses which is more important to fans. Without Ellsbury and with Shane Victorino on the DL with a hamstring injury, the Red Sox are hitting a ratty .158 in the leadoff spot. Before Jackie Bradley Jr. stole second in the third, the Red Sox had been caught three of four times. They lead the majors by hitting into 17 double plays. With the Red Sox off to an entirely blah 4-6 start, not surprisingly, the focus is how the Red Sox miss Ellsbury at the top of the order and how much pine tar on his pitching hand Pineda needed to make the Red Sox look anemic.

"I didn't see it," an evasive Joe Girardi said afterward. "I really don't have anything to say about it."

Pineda said it was dirt mixed with his sweat. That's hilarious.

Red Sox manager John Farrell said he was made aware of it in the fourth and it was gone by the fifth inning. Of course, after similar claims of foreign substances against Clay Buchholz and Jon Lester last year, Farrell may not have wanted to protest too much. Crew chief Brian O'Nora? He said the umpires didn't see it and it was never brought to their attention by the Red Sox.

At any rate, it's worth noting you can't spell Pineda without pine.

Nava, who led off a handful of times, entered the night hitting .125 and was dropped to fifth in the order. Jackie Bradley Jr. played center field and Grady Sizemore, 0-for-4 batting leadoff, played left field for the first time since the minors in 2003. Farrell said the large configuration of left field in the Bronx lent to the move.

"Daniel has had some at-bats where he's tried to maybe do a little too much at times, where he's lifted the ball into the air," Farrell said. "I think we've come to know Daniel more as a line-drive hitter. We're looking for Daniel to get on a little roll and gain the confidence that he had last year."

Meanwhile, nobody has been happier than Ellsbury with all the attention on Masahiro Tanaka's hello tour, Derek Jeter's adieu tour and now Pineda's pine tar tour. Ellsbury loves to make a lot of noise with his bat and even more with his feet. He uses that speed to run from the limelight. Yet with the Red Sox coming to town, he knew there's no escaping it.

"I'm excited to play," Ellsbury said. "I spent nine years with the organization, seven years in the big leagues, roughly a third of my life. I left it all out on the field for the Red Sox. I'm definitely proud of my time over there.